Category Archives: Obama’s America

On June 16, 2015, when Donald Trump announced he’s a candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2016 presidential election, he said this about the illegals whom the Obama administration is allowing to pour across our border:

“They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”

For saying that there are drug-traffickers and rapists among illegal “immigrants,” Trump is reviled and condemned. Univision and NBC Universal have cut ties with Trump, refusing to air the “Miss Universe” pageant he partially owns; Macy’s has discontinued his clothing line.

Trump defended himself to CNN, saying that he got his information from an article in Fusion.net that, ironically, is owned by the same Univision that severed ties with Trump over his remark. The Fusion article by Erin Siegal McIntyre and Deborah Bonello says:

Before they can reach the American Dream, many migrant women have to survive a Mexican nightmare. A staggering 80 percent of Central American girls and women crossing Mexico en route to the United States are raped along the way, according to directors of migrant shelters interviewed by Fusion.

“Women and girl migrants, especially those without legal status traveling in remote areas or on trains, are at heightened risk of sexual violence at the hands of criminal gangs, people traffickers, other migrants or corrupt officials,” the 2010 Amnesty International report stated. “…Many criminal gangs appear to use sexual violence as part of the “price” demanded of migrants. According to some experts, the prevalence of rape is such that people smugglers may require women to have a contraceptive injection prior to the journey as a precaution…”

…“I think almost all of the women are abused on the way north,” said lawyer Elvira Gordillo, who helps trafficked migrant women who get trafficked into prostitution.

But what we hear from NOW and U.S. feminists is the sound of silence.

It’s not just migrant women who illegally cross the U.S. border who are raped. An alarming percentage of girls and women in Mexico are raped — by their family members.

[R]apes are not reported because 70 percent of them are committed by close relatives such as fathers, brothers and uncles. So many go unreported because of shame and because women are not sufficiently empowered.

[Note: English translation of the above passage is by Google]

7 of every 10 rapes are incest rapes!

What Mexico has is a Culture of Rape.

Here are some other inconvenient facts about illegals that the MSM Ministry of Truth isn’t telling you (source: Breitbart):

Inthe state of Texas alone over the last few years, more than 2,000 illegal aliens were deported after committing sex crimes.Nearly 1,000 illegal aliens have been convicted of sex crimes against children.

Mexico and Colombia account for more than 90% of the U.S. heroin supply, and nearly all of it is smuggled into this country by Mexican traffickers.

According to the federal government’s crime statistics, of 78,022 primary offense cases in fiscal year 2013, 38.6% were illegal immigrant offenders.

Nearly half of federal crimes occur in just 5 of the United States’ 94 districts — along the Mexican border.

More than 2,000 sex offenders are deported by ICE every year in Texasalone. Of the 862 alien sex offenders deported by the Texas-based offices, about 27% were convicted of sex offenses against children.

Nearly 1,000 Texas children are sexually assaulted by illegals over the last 3 years. These are convictions, which means the number of Texas kids sexually assaulted by illegals which are reported is even higher, which means the number of unreported pedophilia committed by illegals is higher still.

In 2013, the Obama Administration released 36,007 illegals with 88,000 criminal convictions. Those convictions included 193 homicide convictions, 426 sexual assault convictions, 303 kidnapping convictions, and 1,075 aggravated assault convictions. In January 2015, the DHS admitted to Sen. Grassley that 1,000 of the 36,007 released had gone on to commit more crime including: terroristic threats, lewd acts with a minor, various types of assault, DUI, robbery, hit-and-run, gang activity, rape, and child cruelty.

The number of criminal illegals deported has jumped from 7,000 in 2007 to 79,000 in 2010 — an increase of 72,000 in just 3 years! These criminals are not being stopped at the border. These criminals are being deported after making it across the border and committing tens of thousands of crimes.

When it comes to taking the Second Amendment civil rights away from American citizens and legal immigrants, the media regularly exploit the dead with a cry of, “If it saves just one child!” But when it comes to stopping illegals from streaming over our porous border to sexually assault our children, the media not only doesn’t call for better border enforcement, the media covers these crimes up….

As far the rape-deniers in the media, there is no appealing to these godless liars. It is up to New Media and citizen journalists to get the facts out there.

A veteran of the United States Marines wrote a letter to Obama and videotaped it.

Here’s my transcription of his letter. Note that ellipses (…) represent words that are inaudible/indecipherable.

“Mr. Obama,

I’m not going to address you as President or the Commander In Chief. You don’t deserve it. I fail to see in any way that you have earned it.

I am a citizen of the United States of America. More importantly, I am born and raised and a current resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee…. I am proud to say that I’m a United States Marine…. I work six days a week at a blue collar job to provide for my wife and two sons, which doesn’t leave much time to do anything else. But, this is important, so I made the time.

July 16, 2015, three days ago, I lost four Marine brothers in a terrorist attack at Chattanooga. Yesterday, we lost one more military brother. The people of this nation and the people of Chattanooga in particular, are grieving the deaths of five fallen heroes.

The day of the attack, you delivered a statement and you don’t even have the decency to stand up. You talked on the Charleston issue standing up. You talked on the Boston Bombing standing up. Baltimore, standing. Mike Brown, standing. Greece, standing. Washington Naval Yard shooting, standing. Whitney frickin’ Houston, you stood up. Four Marines gunned down and killed, followed by a sailor . . . all on American soil, while on duty, but unarmed, defenseless, and you sit, slumped down in a chair and ramble through some poorly-scripted apology that seems as sincere as ‘If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.’

We have a saying in the Marine Corps at the end of your service. You’re told: ‘Don’t drop your pack.’ Mr. Obama, you never put your pack on.”

The Marine vet then stands up, moves away from the camera, and continues to address the camera while standing at attention (2:52 mark):

“Since this is no longer a private message, Mr. Obama, I’d like to take a minute to send my deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of those killed in the attacks. And not a day has gone by that I haven’t cried for my fallen brothers….”

He then names the five who were killed:

“United States Marine Corps, Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, age 40, two tours in Iraq, earned two Purple Hearts…, United States Marine, Staff Sergeant David Wyatt, age 37…, United States Marine Corps, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, age 27, two tours in Afghanistan…, United States Marine Corps, Lance Corporal Skip Wells, age 21…. United States Navy, Petty Officer Randall Smith, age 26….”

Returning to sit before the camera (4:44 mark), the vet continues:

“Now, back to you, Mr. Obama.

It seems to me, and apparently I’m not alone, that you have done more damage to this country than anyone. A once proud nation that stood for liberty, justice, and freedom is now in chaos. These people are fighting each other; there’s rioting in the streets; history is being censored by political correctness. There’s actually debates about or not to destroy protected national monuments. Those monuments were made long before you 2008 entrance into our leadership. They explain the journey of Americans’ travels. They celebrate the men and women that gave so much, including their lives, and fought for our freedoms and liberties that you’re so quick to dissolve, which actually makes sense. You don’t want us remembering that people once rose up and fought for our freedoms from an over-controlling government. And while you were busy taking away those freedoms and liberties one by one, I never thought there’d be a day that Americans would fear paying their respects to fallen heroes whose only fault was showing up for work that day.

Kids aren’t required to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance because it may offend them. Reality check. They are sitting down because God offends them. They are sitting down because you say it doesn’t matter.

Our government is picking and choosing for us whose history is worth remembering. Our Founding Fathers knew this day would come again. So they left us, the People, the power to overcome with knowledge as they once did. Our Founders came together and overthrew a government that thought that they were almighty. Mr. Obama, you are a tyrant and nothing more.

We have no trust in police and military training within the civilian population. Freedom of the press is disregarded and media is forbidden, so nobody can see what’s happening. It doesn’t work like that. The American people’s taxes pay for things that we don’t want and never asked for. We weren’t poor supporting our families and paying our bills. And yearly, you take more and more away from us. The United States, thanks to your benevolence, with our money, is estimated to owe 21.694 trillion dollars by the end of this fiscal year, September 3rd. That’s from usgovernmentdebt.us, if you want to look it up. When you came into office in 2008, we owed $9 trillion. So decisions made by you and your buddies, my sons and all the way to my great grandchildren will be born into debt, thank you.

You take weekly vacations and golf trips. All Americans have to work late years or try to die to retire. We’re forced to pay for outrageously expensive crap healthcare or face fines, yet you and your minions are exempt. Our veterans who fought for this country and follow your every order, need your help, and you’re letting them die because of paperwork, wait list, and gun-free zones. Our kids are eating cardboard that my dog wouldn’t eat, while yours are being catered to by fancy chefs and eat like royalty. You must be so proud of what this country has become under your rule, your majesty.

We the People have asked for answers and information, the truth, and for our voices to be heard. All attempts have been pushed to the side, swept under the rug, or diverted to some new controversy, while we’re supposed to be the most transparent administration!

No more. No more back room deals and secret documents, bills that can’t be read before voting up. We’re no longer asking for answers, we are demanding them. We are no longer asking you to take action, we demand it. We are no longer asking for your attention, we will be listened to. Remember this, if nothing else: You work for us, not the other way round. We see the smoke cast down by Washington. We demand the transparency that you promised us.

So, Mr. Obama, step up,and do what a president is supposed to do — strive to improve the lives of the American people and the military that defends you. Do what’s best for us, not your bottom line, not your personal agenda. Or get out of the way. Soon, the time will come when Americans — not just white, not just black, not brown, not just Christian or atheist, gay or straight — all of us, we will unite and we’ll take back our country and restore our liberties. So either step up or step down. You want our respect? Earn it. Because all you have right now is our resentment.

We the People demand a response to this video. And this time, let’s try standing up.

My family and I fully understand the consequences of making this video, but we feel that this needs to be said. It needs to be heard, and it needs to be addressed.

May God bless the United States of America, and prayers to Chattanooga, all the families and friends of those lost and all the victims associated. My family is here for you, and if there is anything that we can do, please let us know.”

Fox News: An illegal immigrant suspected of murdering one woman, wounding another and attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl was released earlier this month by Ohio sheriff’s deputies after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents told them not to hold him, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Illegal Razo/AP Photo

Juan Emmanuel Razo, 35, was arrested Monday after a shootout with police following a crime spree police say began with the attempted rape of a girl in a park in Painesville, about 30 miles northeast of Cleveland. He later shot a woman in front of her children and murdered a 60-year-old woman in nearby Concord Township, according to police. While Razo is being held on $10 million bond, authorities are trying to explain why he was allowed to remain in the U.S. illegally after local authorities questioned him just three weeks ago.

“I have somebody who we don’t know who he is, why he is in this country, why he is here illegally and why he allegedly committed a murder,” Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti thundered at Razo’s arraignment, noting the suspect has no green card, birth certificate or driver’s license. “I can’t set a bond high enough,” he continued. “How in the hell do I even know it’s him?”

Cicconetti later told Fox News he did not understand how federal authorities could have ordered Razo released on July 7 when local deputies questioned him and contacted Border Protection officials, given that no one could even verify his identity.

“If you are stopped, at that point, whether it be by law enforcement or you make your first court appearance, at that point we have to have some kind of identifier on him,” he said.

Deputies who questioned Razo say Border Protection officials told them Razo is from Mexico and in the U.S. illegally, but said they would not pick him up for deportation. Lake County Sheriff Dan Dunlap said at a news conference that deputies released Razo because he hadn’t committed a crime at that point.

A Border Protection spokesman did not return telephone messages seeking comment. A spokesman for U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement said in an email that ICE was closely monitoring the case. The email identified Razo as Juan Emmanuel Razo-Ramirez.

A detective said during the arraignment that Razo has confessed to the deadly, one-day crime spree in the quiet Lake Erie town. Police began seeking Razo late Monday morning after the girl described him to police and said he had tried to rape her. Hours later, he allegedly shot a 40-year-old woman in the arm as she walked with her two children along a bike path and an hour after that, a man told park rangers he’d found his wife, 60-year-old Margaret Kostelnik, shot to death in their home near the bike path.

Victim Margaret Kostelnik

The Lake County coroner said Kostelnik, who was an assistant to the mayor in nearby Willoughby, was shot multiple times. “People always say, ‘Oh, she’s the nicest person in the world,’” Willoughby Mayor David Anderson told FoxNews.com. “But Margaret Kostelnik is the nicest person you could ever meet.”

Anderson said he worked with Kostelnik for the 24 years he served as mayor and that her family is deeply entrenched in the 23,000-person community. Her husband has worked as the town’s cemetery sexton for the past 25 years. “She genuinely cared,” Anderson said.

A public defender entered a not guilty plea for Razo on Tuesday.

Tension between local and federal law enforcement agencies over how to handle illegal immigrants was brought to the forefront after the killing of Kathryn Steinle July 1 on a San Francisco pier. The 32-year-old was allegedly shot by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez who had been deported five times and had a felony record.

Lopez-Sanchez has said he came to San Francisco because he knew local police would not turn him over for deportation because of the city’s sanctuary policy, which has caused Republicans to blame these policies adopted by liberal enclaves nationwide.

Lopez-Sanchez was freed in March on an old marijuana charge even though Immigration and Customs Enforcement had filed a detainer request with San Francisco law enforcement. The city’s sheriff’s department was criticized for releasing Lopez-Sanchez and not notifying federal immigration authorities.

Lopez-Sanchez pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and weapons charges in the case. His bail was set at $5 million, which means he will stay in jail until the murder trial, where he faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment.

Read more about the illegal immigration that plagues our country here.

Like this:

About 5 months ago, I asked in a post when and how transgenders became all the rage in America:

Something is going on to which the American people are not privy.

Every evidence we have is that those who identify themselves as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) comprise no more than 5% of the U.S. population.…which means transgenders must be less than 1% of the U.S. population. And yet, if we go by the pervasive news about transgenders and the relentless drumbeat for “transgender rights” by every institution of the Left — by the media, pop culture, academia, and the Obama administration — you would think every other person you meet is a transgender….

The simple truth is that a person’s sex or gender is determined by our DNA, specifically, chromosomes: females have XX chromosomes; males have XY chromosomes. That means no amount of surgical mutilation and hormone “therapy” can actually transform a man into a woman by creating an ovary, uterus or milk-producing breasts; nor can surgery transform a woman into a man by creating sperm, testicles, and a real penis. Those are determined by birth — by our chromosomal DNA. (See “A transsexual regrets his ‘gender-reassignment’ surgery“)

Paul R. McHugh, M.D., former psychiatrist-in-chief for Johns Hopkins Hospital and its current Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry, agrees. According to Dr. McHugh, “transgenders” are people who suffer a “disorder of ‘assumption’” – the notion that their maleness or femaleness is different than what nature assigned to them biologically,much like other body dysmorphic disorders, such as anorexia. The difference, of course, is that body parts like penises, testicles, and breasts are not amputated in an effort to “cure” other assumption disorders.

And yet a year ago, Time magazine’s coverof June 9, 2014 proclaimed that we’re at a “Transgender Tipping Point: America’s Next Civil Rights Frontier.”

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know Time was exactly right about the tipping point. In the span of a mere year, U.S. media and pop culture have not just succumbed but fully embraced the scientifically-fictitious transgenderism:

Bruce Jenner, who got breast implants but still has male chromosomes and genitalia, is now referred to by the feminine pronouns “she” and “her”.

We are in Alice’s Through-the-Looking-Glass land where up is down, and down is up, and sane people find themselves in a country gone stark raving mad.

I’ve puzzled about this, especially the dizzying speed of the change in American culture and attitudes. Then came that proverbial light bulb of illumination.

In a July 27, 2015 essay in Patheos, Fr. Dwight Longenecker draws our attention to the Baphomet, a well-known pictorial representation of the devil as androgynous, both male and female, or in today’s parlance, a transgender.

Fr. Longenecker describes the Baphomet:

Rising from his lap is the pagan Caduceus–the rod with two serpents entwined that the pagan god Mercury carries. According to Satanic lore, this is a phallic symbol with the earth powers of the serpent intertwined.

The winged goat headed figure not only has male genitalia, but breasts.

Furthermore, when you look closely you’ll see that the beast has two arms–one male and one female.

On the arms are the Latin words “Solve” and “Coagula”. These mean “Separate” and “Come Together”. These are occult words for the task of the alchemist who takes what is integrated and natural–breaks it and then puts it back together in a new (and perverted) way.

This is precisely what Satan is doing at this time with human sexuality. Through feminism, homosexualism, trans genderism, gender confusion and “identifying” as whatever gender a person wants, the distinctions between male and female are being brokenand put back together however it is desired.

The celebration of “Caitlyn” Jenner–indeed the enforced celebration and constant publicity about this “transitioning” is a visual illustration of what is going on.

I will say what Fr. Longenecker hints at and implies: Satanism explains America’s rapid acceptance of transgenders. Indeed, Christ called the Devil “the father of all lies”, and we have been warned by St. Paul (2 Timothy 3:1-4, 12-13):

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God . . . and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

The Daily Signal (TDS) originally listed 41 companies — a list obtained from Planned Parenthood’s website. After TDS first published the list, three companies — Xerox, Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola — contacted TDS to say their inclusion on PP’s list was erroneous. They asked PP to remove them from its list. PP’s response was to delete the entire list from their website.

Below are some reaction to the two undercover videos.

1. The Good Guys:

Two days after pro-life lawmakers in the House of Representative introduced a bill that would immediately de-fund Planned Parenthood, pro-life members of the U.S. Senate have followed suit with their own legislation.

2. The Bad Guys:

The following politicians and organizations are defending PP:

The Obama administration not only says the selling of aborted babies’ body parts is “ethical,” spokesman Josh Ernest said that Obama, who says he’s a Christian, will not defund Planned Parenthood. That means the evil POS is forcing you, me, and every taxpayer to fund this ghoulish practice, against our conscience.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who calls herself a Catholic Christian, instead of demanding an investigation of PP, wants the Obama administration to investigate the Center for Medical Progress who made the undercover videos.

A Rasmussen pollfound that 25% of Likely U.S. Voters favor the sale of body organs from aborted babies for use in medical research. 54% oppose, and 22% are undecided. 43% favor the use of fetal tissue in medical research; 34% are opposed; 23% are not sure.

2 Timothy 3:1-13

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving,
slanderers, without self-control, brutal,despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power…. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra – what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

How these words of St. Paul, written some 2,000 years ago, resonate in our times of ever-worsening corruption and depravity.

Six years ago, would we ever have imagined that we would live in a time when innocent human beings are not just slaughtered, but their body parts sold for profit. Would we ever have imagined that politicians (Obama, Hillary Clinton) would defend the sale as “ethical”? Would we….

Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship of the Ring, speaking as Elven queen Galadriel, referring to her husband Celeborn:

“He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted . . . and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat.”

In a letter, Tolkien explained:

Actually I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’— though it contains (and in legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory. (Letters 255).

Tolkien’s “long defeat” should be understood as a doleful commentary on humanity as a collective, and “defeat” in the sense of countless men and women being obdurately evil, and so are lost to Christ’s salvific self-sacrifice on the cross.

The long defeat.

What an apt characterization of the times we live in and our seemingly fruitless struggle against the ever-rising darkness of the human soul.

Fr. Stephen Freeman, priest of the Orthdox Church in America and rector of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, observes:

History as a long defeat – I can think of nothing that is more anti-modern than this sentiment expressed by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is a thought perfectly in line with the fathers and the whole of Classical Christian teaching. And it’s anti-modernism reveals much about the dominant heresy of our time.
We believe in progress – it is written into the DNA of the modern world. If things are bad, they’ll get better. . . . But Tolkien’s sentiment bears deeper examination. For not only does it reject the notion of progress, it embraces a narrative of the “long defeat.” . . . If history tells us anything, it is that this is a very honest, even prescient reading.

But Fr. Freeman reminds us:

But the Classical Christian read on human life contains the deepest hope – set precisely in the heart of the long defeat. . . . Tolkien notes that within the long defeat, there are “glimpses of final victory.” I would go further and say that the final victory already “tabernacles” among us. It hovers within and over our world, shaping it and forming it, even within its defeat . . . an End that was always foreseen and present within the Cross itself. And the Cross itself was present “from before the foundation of the world.”

May the courage of St. Paul, and the peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

Washington Examiner: The fund Medicare uses to pay hospitals will run out in the next 15 years, and experts say there are no easy answers to solve it.

The independent Board of Trustees for Medicare found the trust fund used for Medicare payments to hospitals would become insolvent in 2030 unless something is done. The board issued its annual report to Congress on the entitlement program’s finances on Wednesday.

As in prior years, the trustees found that the fund isn’t properly financed over the next decade. Last year’s report also pegged 2030 as the date the fund will become insolvent.

However, the fund could run dry as early as 2022 if spending is higher than estimated, the report said.

The fund covers hospital insurance benefits. It doesn’t affect Medicare Part B, which covers payments to physicians, or Medicare Part C, which is commonly known as Medicare Advantage.

The verdict is still out on how to solve the problem, said Juliette Cubanski, associate director of Medicare policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation. One answer to increase funding is to raise payroll taxes, she said.

The insolvency of the trust fund basically means Medicare payments will be higher than the money coming in, “which is basically the payroll tax for Part A,” she said. But raising taxes is not the “easiest thing to do in the current political environment,” Cubanski conceded.

The report exuded a sense of urgency for Congress and the Obama administration to get together and find a solution. “The sooner solutions are enacted, the more flexible and gradual they can be,” the trustees said.

Whether that can happen is another story. After the report was released, some Republicans blamed Obamacare for the problem. “Rather than ignoring the problem and raiding Medicare to pay for the president’s health care law, we need a willing partner in Washington to take thoughtful and prompt steps forward in strengthening the program,” said a statement from Reps. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Joe Pitts, R-Pa. Upton is head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Pitts leads the panel’s health subcommittee.

Blame the republicans…

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., countered that it is Republicans who have contributed to the problem. “Instead of trying relentlessly and irresponsibly to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans should work with Democrats to make sure that Medicare is protected for the next generation,” said the House minority whip.

But some lawmakers pointed to the year’s biggest bipartisan success as evidence that they can find a solution. The two parties permanently repealed an unsustainable Medicare payment formula for physicians and reauthorized a children’s insurance program.

“Reforming the way Medicare pays local doctors has had positive effects for our nation’s seniors, providers and the program itself,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s health subcommittee. “Now we must take the next step and pursue other important payment system reforms.”